Shami

Anyone know why Shami Chakrabarti was carrying the Olympic flag? The boss of the Olympic Federation said it was because she had “founded” the organisation Liberty. But of course she didn’t. It was founded eighty years ago, by some other people who have never been honoured. Nor was she responsible for the name change from the National Council for Civil Liberties – that happened 16 years before she arrived on the scene. So why was she there? You know, all in all, I really enjoyed the opening ceremony and thought Danny Boyle did a lovely job. But some of this spineless, witless, political correctness actually makes me feel physically sick.

D’you know, I wrote a piece a year or so ago about how the Olympic torch would end up being held by Shami Chakrabarti. I thought I was being terribly satirical and funny. I just find it incredibly depressing.

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Best night ever for British sport now we are into REAL Olympic sport (not all that rowing, sailing and shooting nonsense). Jessica and Mo were both absolutely genius on the track. No one except a few Wilhelms care about their skin colour and provenance – they are part of the British family.
But let’s remember there are millions of followers of a certain cult who have been let into the UK who won’t let their girls participate in athletics. That is wrong – we don’t want that culture in this country; we want ours, that embraces sport, dance, theatre, music, film, and art – all the things loathed by that cult.

TonyB58

Despite myself I enjoyed the opening ceremony but a low point was Doreen Lawrence carrying the flag! Stephen Lawrence died in a nasty racist murder 19 years ago so let him RIP! The PC/Guardian brigades encouragement of this woman in her grief driven madness is the contemporary equivalent of tormenting the mentally ill in Bedlam.

Fitzmark2

On the whole I thought the opening ceremony was a wonderful
example of self deprecating British humour.
The Simon Rattle episode with Mr Bean was hilarious. My only disappointment was that they didn’t
play the Sex Pistols’ satire of our unelected head of state: “God save the
Queen and her Fascist Regime.” Can’t
win them all I suppose. But well done Danny Boyle.
I also thought the Olympic flag was carried with great dignity, particularly by Shami and Daniel
Barenboim. And I think Barenboim’s interpretation of Beethoven’s glorious 9th
Symphony on BBC 2 on Saturday night was wonderful, uplifting, a joyous musical hymn to the indomitable human
spirit.

John Steadman

Shami knows why she was selected to carry the flag, we know why she was selected to carry the flag, and she knows that we know why she was selected to carry the flag. Smug she may be, but daft she ain’t.

Robert Taggart

Shameless Chakrabati.

CluainArd

I started watching this drivel but switched off after about 10 minutes. What really offended me was the almost total absence of any reference to Christianity which has probably been the most important cultural influence on Britain from the time of Roman Britain until today.

David Lindsay

This was only Shami Chakrabati’s second-biggest gig of the month. A fortnight before, she had addressed the Durham Miners’ Gala. She was good, actually.

After its starring role in projecting Britain to the world, the National Health Service is probably now more or less safe from the Coalition’s neo-Blairism, although only the first Labour Government since 1979 will secure it firmly.

In fact, from the celebration of agriculture and manufacturing, to that of the NHS, to
Shami Chakrabati, to the Queen, the whole thing amounted to a splendid repudiation of Blairism, and thus of Blair himself.

His scheme for a return as Prime Minister at the head of New Labour-Cameroon-Orange Book technocracy was gloriously torn to shreds, and burned as if in the cauldron, before the eyes of the whole wide world.

I noticed that the one time the producers decided to be accurate with the racial representation was during the Windrush section.
No ‘diversity and inclusivity’ there, but plenty everywhere else.

Shakassoc

The fact is that Sham was there on false pretences. And despite some impressive technology tricks, the entire opening ceremony was British History as expounded by Count Arthur Strong.

http://twitter.com/SurrealAnarchy Martin Robinson

To be fair, in the pic, it looks as though Muhammad Ali is trying to wrest the flag away from her

Daniel Maris

That’s one fight he lost.

http://twitter.com/SurrealAnarchy Martin Robinson

Someone’s for the long jump

Peter A

I thought the whole thing was fabulously put together to entertain the mass of British people who spend their evenings under the influence of recreational drugs.At least for them it would have fair sped by………

Ron Todd

Thats what I did wrong watched it with no drugs

WetherspoonThree

Hasn’t Shami recently admitted that she considered herself unworthy to hold the flag and felt a bit embarrassed to have been selected. Actually, I think she is being unnecessarily coy…the alternative choices, after all, might have been one of those civil rights campaigners such as Cherie Blair or perhaps Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Imagine how mift they must feel? And why was Billy Bragg overlooked in favour of Paul? And I always thought that Max Boyce was a ‘shoo-in’ for all these opening ceremonies.

Just Bob

Just like she was embarrassed when she accepted a nice, big, fat cheque from Gadaffi for the LSE.

Andy Gill

Hasn’t Mehdi Hasan complained about the bit where they paid tribute to the victims of 7/7? It was a bloody good opportunity to accuse Britain of being Islamophobic. I’m guessing he was outside sneaking a Ramadan fag for that bit.

http://twitter.com/synergygrill Synergy Grill

Rod is right. For those who really fought for our freedom and that of others – this sport of Political Posturing by Shami & Liberty undermines their heroic efforts – and that is sad.

Tim

In the opening ceremony,
there were 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens, 3 cows, 2 goats, 10 ducks
and 9 geese. But apparently in an idyllic British farmyard there are no dogs or pigs. Well fancy that!

Daniel Maris

Good spot! I don’t think anyone knocked back any gin, whisky or real ale either – all essentials of our island story.

Barry

How come ALL the geese were white?

Evidence of institutional racism in the farming community, in my opinion.

bionde

Was there a black sheep? I don’t know as I switched and read a book.

Lungfish

The opening ceremony was completely racist. Participants were clearly chosen according to their colour. This country is ninety five percent white.

Noa

Not where I live. Gujarati and Urdu are as common as English – and that applies with 3G as with new arrivistes.
And one objects to those ‘orribly white suits too. they should be in black.

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

And another thing. Because the Union Jack represents “empire” and “slavery” to some ill-educated morons, Stella McCartney has left it out of her designs for the Games. This means Team GB are so indistinct I keep cheering for the wrong athletes.

Spf50

She was just about able to represent part of the pattern of the flag, but disguised it by losing it in blue – just in case anyone noticed it was the union flag…

RichardH

I think Danny Boyle should be complimented on the history of Britain theme at the opening ceremony.
I particularly liked the bit where representatives paraded from all the countries Britain has invaded.

Ru

lol

C Cole

Face it, Rod. You probably gave them the idea!

Boni

Where was the mother of Kriss Donald the 15 year old white victim of the countries worst racist abduction torture and murder at the hands of an Asian Gang – doesn’t fit in with the multicultural message so lets have some more of Shami and the Lawrences

Tron

Cameron and Clegg will unveil new policies in the Autumn.
Anyone who didn’t love even 10 seconds of the 27 million pound “multi-cultie crap” will be sent to Switzerland to be put out of their misery.
Dizzy Rascal will write the new national anthem about the joys of drug dealing and how we all hate the police. The Queen will be made to dance to it on the roof of Buckingham Palace.

Your trouble Rod, is you only enjoyed most of the show. That is just not good enough. You must learn to love St. Shami and the Blessed Doreen.
Get with it Daddio ! I bet you look good on the dance floor.

Ru

No good lefties accusing Spectator columnists and commenters for being racist for bringing this type of thing up. That accusation would have some merit if Olympic flag representatives were being chosen for something other than their ethnicity, but seeing as they are not and are cast *because* of their ethnicity and membership of 3% of the population, to the exclusion of the other 97%, then it’s extremely disingenuous.

S Arse

The thrust of your argument has merit, but I’m not sure about your ethnicity calculations. The percentage of people currently inhabiting these islands who can claim pre 1950′s British forbears is struggling I think, to be even a majority. I can’t claim to have any proof of it because I don’t think that the stats are easily available or even collated, but 3% non-indigenous is just not right.

Ru

Three percent are black or Asian. 100% of British Olympic flag bearers bothe in Beijing and London were black or Asian. It would be one thing if that happened by chance and race hadn’t been an issue in the choice, but that wasn’t the case. Why was it that they felt the most appropriate person to represent British children was an Ethiopian? Because you can be sure, they did think about it and make that decision.

S Arse

OK Ru … I agree that there is an agenda among “liberal” people to promote coffee coloured people by the score. But “three percent are black or Asian” is fantasy, do you not go out?

Coincidence or design? If design, then can the designers take critical feedback?

S Arse

I just did (slow day), I have a couple of points to make. Firstly Wikipedia not a trustworthy destination when hoping to uncover factual information. Second, the list that you refer to is taken from the 2001 census. Third, the census statistics are on par with Wikipedia for veracity and (prob still third) take no account of the great number of people who are here illegally.

Ru

The London statistics are taken from the Office of National Statistics, 2006 estimates.

Eddie

Less than 3% are Afro-Carribean – this group is MASSIVELY over-represented on our TV screens, and were at the Olympics too. One reason is blacks in sport and US movies. But really, most ethnic minorities in the UK are not black and it;s time the media stopped over-representing black people on TV and in the press.
The problem is that they (TV, adverts, media) get their actors and models from agencies and they are full of black hopefuls (whereas all the Asians and Chinese are doing their homework and getting careers in medicine and accountancy and IT!). But at least they could make the effort!

Ru

Depressing that they couldn’t find anyone suitable to represent Britain either in collecting the flag from Beijing or to carry it, from the main, 97% portion of society. It’s as if we never achieve/d anything. Which is interesting because as Friday night demonstrated, we achieved everything.

Mike Brighton

I found the whole opning ceremony hilarious. I first noted the black victorian industrialist…hmmm I thought ok it’s not meant to be histroical and they are being inclusive, then by the NHS piece I was giggling, seeing voldemort representing the onservatives attacking the NHS I was laughing, then there was the dance segment…I saw the kids and the mum…no they can’t can they….yes they can and on came the black dad and I was rolling on the floor…then the CND symbol and then by the ever-so-self-important speeces by Coe and that IOC bloke my sides were splitting….

Wessex Man

Oh dear it’s all getting a bit silly and personal now, why don’t you admit that most of you never watched it just like me, it has nothing to do with the Olympics. I normally watch quite a lot the real sports but BBC is killing this one with their blanket coverage, it seems that everyone connected with the Beeb is there and over cooking it.

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

Shami was there to represent the immigrants who have abused our hospitality, hate our way of life, and are blind to their own monstrous faults.

Tim

What all immigrants or just those who have abused our hospitality? You do realise that there are a substantial number of immigrants like me (yes the darkie “Asians” from the Sub-continent) who are equally nauseous at the sight of Shami, even sans the Olympic flag and found the whole experiance rather embarrassing. But you carry on slagging us all off, Maggie.

James R

Excuse me Tim but I feel you’re jumping to the wrong conclusion.A comma after immigrants would possibly support your argument.As written, it’s perfectly clear to me and I suspect others, what Maggie means.
A gentleman would do the decent thing.

AGS

Speaking of missing commas, James R, what exactly do you suspect others of?

James R

Exactly ? Not being you.

Eddie

Exactly. And as the son of an immigrant I refuse to be lectured by some pompous sanctimonious politically correct diversity-dribbling 4-GCSE-ed bimbo from an HR department who orders me to ‘celebrate diversity’ by adopting a policy of dangerous values-relativism, anti-integration and divisive multiculturalism, the rewriting of history to show all white people as bad, the exaggeration of immigration through history to justify more mass immigration, the constant disparaging of British culture and values, and the tolerance of intolerance (ie in religious Asian and African ‘communities’) so long as it’s expressed by anyone with a dark skin and a religion.
I agree that the great British contribution to the world in the form of the rule of manmade law and human rights should have been marked (which goes back to Anglo-Saxon law, Henry II, and Hywell Dda in Wales), but not with a smug little self-righeoud lawyer like Shami (though I would have loved to see her in leather, just for the postmodern irony…)

Dan

It seemed to me while watching that an even more awful prospect was possible, that is that the organisers thought that Shami Chakrabarti was not the founder of Liberty – the organisation – so much as liberty – the abstract noun. No wonder she went from looking simply uncomfortable to downright squeamish after the announcement.
Of course, Shami Chakrabarti is in fact the Director of Liberty, which on one view is a rather magnificent oxymoron.

Peter Jackson

At least that national tosser Stephen f***ing Fry didn’t get a look in

Eddie

That’s because Saint Stephen Oleaginous of Fry is the BBC’s new expert on wildlife and nature. He knows bugger all about wildlife and nature, of course, but so what? He can read and fluffy Oxbridge-hued anthropomorphic hug-fest of a BBC nature script when sitting in a sound booth in SoHo anyway – he doesn’t need to actually know stuff about animals.
Know sweet FA about anything? Welcome aboard the good ship presenter’ed television at the new know-nothing inane and deeply stupid dumbed down BBC.
Shame really that he wasn’t at tha Olympic stadium on Friday. Shami OnionBhaji looks so like a boy sometimes that perhaps he would have enjoyed it. Hey, maybe that’s why she was chosen in the first place? You know what a thing some of these sporty coach types have with boys…

Daniel Maris

The BBC’s Chris Packham seems to know everything about every living creature on the planet!

Eddie

Yep, but he is a qualified biologist. And La Fry’s qualification is? The man knows NOTHING about the natural world at all – he just liked prettyy fluffy animals like the rest of us. It is typical of the presenter-led mess that is TV now, where those who know bugger all about a subject present a programme on it (and it helps if you’re ethnic and female too). It’s everywhere on TV – like a great big celebrity rash (and don’t get me started on celebrities presenting documentaries – eg Len Goodman, a dancer, presented a doc on the Titanic, because he once worked for a month for the company that built it! Jeeeeeez!)
Just looked at all the young women presenting sport on the BBC at the Olympics: are these autocuties seriously experts in football and cycling?
For that matter, look at weather girls: the met office and degrees in physics and maths (which you need to work in a serious weather and climate job) is overwhelmingly male (which is why experienced weathermen used to tell us the weather). Now it’s all teeth and tits. Progress?
Personally, I liked people who know what they’re talking about. When it comes to nature and wildlife, Stephen Fry does not. And his Oxbridge tones are so oily and irritating I immediately reach for the remote whenever I hear them (or see his smug little bendy-nosed mugshot on the adverts…for which he earns a fortune and then lectures poor people in the importance of paying the TV tax to pay his and other millionaires’ salaries! Grrrrrrrr!)

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

Fry’s programme is probably part of the BBC’s campaign to ensure that third rate celeb’s have the same number of exotic, worldwide, license-fee paid holidays as Alan Yentob.

” . . the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

And to you too, sonny. You will be old and decrepit one day. The relentless march of time won’t stop for your fatuous arrogance or respect your whining demands to get you in the new century.

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

Old people are funny and often quite racist.

Squire Western

Spot on DougS. Agree with you 100%

Marcus

NHS bit – ridiculous -ly embarrassing.

Tim

So Doug S, you found 8 out of 11 things you listed as, at least, good. That makes you nearly 73% left wing and biased.

DougS

Tim: I was trying to be kind. I could have mentioned:
Initial rural scene – pathetic
German Mini/PC diversity home scene – sickly
Giant kids’ monsters – laughable (but not in a funny sense)
Time spent on the good things – too short
Time spent on the poor things – much too long

spf50

Remind me never to give you a job as a statistician…

SPF50

Spot on…

Baron

Baron watched the spectacle till JK Rowling opened a book and released the images of our contemporary multi-culti society half expecting a crowd of schoolchildren singing the Red Flag to begin erecting wind turbines, nailing solar panels to roofs of houses, crashing electric cars noiselessly …

Still, Boyle got one thing spectacularly right, very likely unintentionally, the stark division between Britain’s past and her present, the former creating wealth – belching chimneys, the unwashed with dirty faces but proud, entrepreneurs galore, the present represented by the pinnacle of the entitlement culture – the NHS, and for this alone an ennoblement should be in order for the man.

Sue

I thought the opening ceremony was a little like panning for gold – a huge amount of rubbish had to be gone through to get to the sparkly bits. I enjoyed the trip along the River Thames and the cauldron is a triumph (although it’s now in the middle of a building site until the athletics starts). Elizabeth Windsor’s behaviour was appalling (sitting picking her nails when “Team GB” finally made it in to the stadium) and she is now clearly too elderly to have to sit through these long events. I found it rather telling that the only obvious Londoner involved in the whole shebang was allowed a powerboat trip up the Thames but wasn’t permitted into the stadium. “Move along home-grown Londoners, nothing for you to see here”. As for that selection of people carrying the Olympic flag…words fail me. I only hope Cassius Clay didn’t suffer too much afterwards. He looked in great distress whilst being held up by his nurse(?).

Eddie

This achingly politically correct flag-carrying by Shami and the mother of saint Stephen was the weakest and most misplaced part of the whole opening ceremony. Did they deserve to be there? No. But thanfully their smug gobs left our TV screens after a a minute or so and we could get on with the show…
But generally it could have been a lot worse: if the BBC had been in charge of it we’d have had African drumming and Indian dancing (which the BBC seems to think equals British culture these days).
There were some glaring omissions: no Newton or Charles Darwin, no Gilbert and Sullivan, no focus on Magna Carta or ‘older’ history. Also, it played to stereotypes: that it always rains in Britain (errrr nope – and Rome gets more rain than London!) And there could have been something on British food and drink – to try and counter Froggy ignorance and bigotry.
There was also the silly agenda going on that ‘we are a nation of immigrants’ – something much exaggerated and used a a justification for mass immigration (but thankfully no rollerskating St Mary Seacole!). I bet even no people in Asia and Africa are packing their bags to come here as our institutions (like the BBC) keep telling thjem how much we love them and want to celebrate their diversity and give them free healthcare etc.
Most people do not realise that in the past immigration to this country was minimal: a few people came and brought their ideas – not millions of people. The Norman conquest added immigrants but no more than 1% of the population; ditto with other ‘waves’ of immigration.

Eddie

Surely, it would have been far better to have survivors of the Islamist bombings (a result of immigration here, it must be said) hold that flag instead of Shami Onionbhaji et al in a clear show of defiance against enemies within and without: survivors of 7/7 could have shown the 15% of UK Muslims who thought the bombers did a ‘good thing’ that it’d be far better if they left our country for good.

Not PC that, though; so far better to bang on about the Windrush (yet again), show a mixed race family (90% of Brit families are not; and only 3% of Brits are black too – 16% non-white, mostly south Asian), and do the multi-culti montage that got us the games in the first place. If we all know it’s cobblers, then that’s OK!

And I do have to say that the lighting of the Olympic torch was the best ever – and showed the Chinese to be the nationalistic militaristic robotic ceremony for the Oriental Nuremburg that it was.
And I am so glad the ceremony showed the British sense of humour so well too. That is something I really miss when abroad – even in English-speaking countries. There could, for example, have been a section on cartoons and satire, with Gillray etc. And where was the British art anyway? Turner, Constable, Samuel Palmer (big inluence on Van Gogh)?

arnoldo87

Eddie,
A lot of us are supporters of the “Blue Mink – Melting Pot” philosophy, believing that mongrelisation can only make us stronger. Of course there is a large constituent of our population that fiercly resists such thinking – but let’s leave aside the Muslims for the moment.
That isn’t to say that we think that mass immigration is desirable – just that if we didn’t have racial inter-breeding, the country would be full of people who think like you do.

arnoldo87

Eddie,
Some of us subscribe to the “Blue Mink – Melting Pot” philosophy, believing that mongrelisation makes us stronger as a nation. Of course, there is a percentage of the population that disagrees strongly with this sort of thinking, but let’s leave aside the Islamic community for the moment.
This is not to say that we are in favour of mass immigration, but if we had no inter-racial breeding, then we would revert to the 1940′s and have a country where your sort of view was dominant.

Eddie

Errr…But what you say has nothing whatsoever to say what I said. Did I make an argument against misegenation? You seem to be reading what you want into my post to create a straw man to attack.
The UK is no more a product of immigration than any other country or region: FRance, Spain, Russia, China, Nigeria etc. Then why are we the only ones who constantly exaggerate immigration? There was comparatively little immigration into the UK until the post-war years. Some, but no millions – and people integrated and assimilated too, in the main (these days there are huge numbers of incomers who are colonists rather than immigrants, who want us to adapt to their backwards values and ways, not vice-versa.)
Multiculturalism does NOT create a melting pot: it creates a land of segregated and separate ‘communities’ who, probably because they are told so by the BBC and local councils, can do what the F they like because we are all so desperate to celebrate their diversity. Thus we get girls at British schools wearing burkas, then being genitally mutliated and sent overseas to marry their 50 year old cousin when they’re 13 AND NO-ONE DOES A DAMN THING ABOUT IT!
The French are right: immigrants should integrate, learn the native language (no 34 languages in primary schools in France), accept their laws and ways and traditions AND THEIR VALUES. This attitude is classed by the usual liars as being somehow ‘right wing’ in the UK. It is not. It is commonsensical and the only way to successfully manage immigration and the multitude of ethnic and cultural ‘communities’ that exist in our cities.
My ‘sort of view’ is the right one, arnold; your ‘sort of view’ leads to a separate and segregated communities, riots and ethnic strife – and is racist: I think we should all be treated the same and be expected to live by the same values and laws; you seem to be willing to vary those values and laws according to whether or not somoen is dark-skinned: ergo, literally, a racist stance.
Multiculturalism as an ideology is racist (as opposed to cosmopolitanism which is not).
PS I am too young for Blue Mink, but know the song (which is Boy George’s favourite apparently, though one doubts how many from multi-ethnic communities would be tolerant of his ways huh…)

arnoldo87

This latest post is a lot better, Eddie.
If you’d actually read my post, you’d have noticed that I didn’t praise multi-culturism or even mention it.
It seems that you oppose ghettoisation and actually want the various ethnic communities to mix freely, merge cultures, and breed inter-racially, so that we finish up with just the one culture.
That’s pretty much what I want too. Glad we agree.

Eddie

Your latest post is as smug, patronising, ignorant and nonsensical as your first.
But I do so hope you take your message of racial mixing and the abandonment of any and every culture into the heart of our diverse communities. I am sure that the Nigerian Christians living her would just love to marry all the Indian Christians, and the Pakistanis are I am sure keep to marry those Nigerian and Sudanese and Somalian Muslims with skins black as coal. Because the ethnic minorities in this country are just so tolerant aren’t they? They just marry so freely with other races and religions. They are so fluffy and cuddly that they can never do any wrong can they? So we muct celebrate their diversity and turn a blind eye to all their wrongdoing (informed usually by their bakwards cultures which deserve to be snuffed out, frankly). Oh and they love gay people too eh?
Your kind of silly hippy multiculturalist madness leads to a weaker more insecure and more unhappy society, with a lack of unity and social cohesion, and a great deal of pain.
But as we now have many from backwards cultures here (though most want a stop to the insane mass immigration – or rather, colonialism, that leads millions here who refuse to accept our decent civilised values or adapt or integrate, thanks to silly liberal celebrations of ‘diversity’ instead of unity), it behoves us to make sure these people integrate and accept our values, ways and laws. Pandering to what they want by being tolerant of intolerance – the backwards multiculturalist way – is the opposite of what we should do which is: Adapt and integrate or leave! That is the French way and they are right.
Oh, and Arnold – I bet that if you couldn’t afford to buy a place to live or get a decent job because of the pressure of immigration, you’d be less in favour of it! But hey, lots of immigrants equals lots of cheap servants to clean your home and to be your au pairs and to provide you with all those eateries and takeaways. Your position, like that of most pro-immigration muppets, is utterly selfish, greedy, hypocritical and quite possibly racist (multiculturalism and positive action mean treating people differently because of their skin colour and ethnicities: ergo, these are racist policies).

arnoldo87

Eddie,
I must confess to being smug and patronising, but I only do it when somebody is worthy of it.

Damon

@79a05da81efc3d307806fe6b413cd6cd:disqus
(1) The adjective is backward, not ‘backwards’;
(2) The word you were groping for in an earlier post is ‘miscegenation’. If you’re going to use a word, spell it properly;
(3) I find your reference to ‘Shami Onionbhaji’ oh-so-funny;
(4) If the French model is so wonderful, how come they had their own explosive summer of race riots just a few years ago?
(5) You bigoted prat.

Eddie

Damon. It’s called a ‘typo’, you dunderheaded prat!
You are both a racist and an ignorant twerp.
The French anti-multiculturalist way works and our multi-cultu celebrating difference way does not: hence the divided communities in the UK, the lack of social cohesion, the riots. The French riots were NOT race riots – one third of the rioters were white you TWAT!
I am not: I am perfectly happy to lampoon and mock anyone of any race or gender or species…and that includes mocking their names. You are one of those hypocrites who think that’s OK if the target is white but not when they are black/Asian. Ergo, you are a disgusting racist.
You are NOT the liberal-minded morally-superior moral guardian that you think you war, you silly runt. You cannot judge me – but as an ass of the first order you assume that you are morally right (though all French leftwingers would call you a racist stupid putard!)
So go take a running jump into your slop-bucket of ghee, you moron.

Eddie

WRONG! The adjective ‘backward’ OR ‘backwards’ can be used (‘backward’ is preferred in the USA actually. Are you American? If not, stop speaking like one).
Trust me: I have an English degree from a top uni and am a former English lecturer and present published writer. You, on the other hand, are an ignorant prat.
A word of advice: don’t correct others’ ‘errors’ when there are none and when you yourself are too thick to know that.
You are typical of the bullying multi-culti diversity-worshipping moron mob and are thus responsible for the riots and racial strife we have in the UK. The French would call your thinking twisted, diversive, racist and counter-productive, and so do I – but then, you are just parroting the policies you have been brainwashed with by the high priests of political correctness.

Sarah

“it seems that you want …”.

No, Eddie would hate that.

Eddie

Just like Sarah hates all men because of her insecurity issues eh? Ever looked at the attitudes of Asian and African cultures and immigrants to women’s rights dear? Tsss…
The French have banned burkas and headscarves in schools and colleges, and arrested those who have forced their children to have FGM or into marriage. Arrests in the UK = zero. Why? Multiculturalism!

Sarah

Aww. Have you taken to voting for your own comments, Ed? Lol.

Eddie

Have you? ROTFLMAO!
If you notice, Saddo Sarah, my original 2 posts on this thread have won no fewer than 80 and 55 votes of agreement respectively. And your have won how many exactly? Minus numbers don’t count, sister…
If you were an Olympian, you’d be Equitorial Guinea – which is a coincidence really, because as your gym-habit makes clear, your arse is probably about the size of it…
BTW there is always ONE who votes against whatever comment I make – however inane and uncontroversial and apolitical. There are two candidates for Eddie’s stalker – and you, my little obsessive twisted manhater, are one.
You do know stalking is illegal – and so is falsely accusing people of inciting racism? Rod and I could contact the police about your disgraceful allegations and you could get arrested under the malicious communications act: I hope you knows that, love.
Tssss. A little learning is a dangerous thing, eh? Come back to play with the big boys when you a) grow up; b) get an education beyond the parochial incestuous cliquey world of your Wimmins Studies degree.

Clare

Oh dear. I knew Sarah was in deep trouble when she added that ‘lol’ to her post. Still, look on the bright side, Ed. At least it wasn’t a smiley face.

Ron Todd

Since it was a sporting event some mention of all the sports invented or codified in this county could have been included.

SPF50

The BBC are very fond of plugging the immigration, for example, of the Hugenots as part of their immigration sleight-of-hand “it’s always happened here, what’s your problem, you racist?” strategy.

But we’re talking about no more than 35,000 or so, and people who brought skills no-one had here and started businesses. They weren’t parasites, they didn’t cost the country anything.

Just Bob

Or Jenner (widely quoted as being the man whose work has saved more lives than any other), Fleming, take your pick from numerous explorers, automotive engineering excellence (F1, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, E Type) etc etc. What did we get, the guy who made it easier for us to get our hands on porn !
Boyle’s choices were like falling into a barrelful of tits and coming out sucking your thumb. It should have been a celebration of the best of a kind and first of a kind. I almost said unique, but then that would have qualified the killing fields of the NHS. Even GOSH was charitably founded almonst 100 years before the NHS mostly by those evil Tories.

CluainArd

“There were some glaring omissions: no Newton or Charles Darwin, no Gilbert and Sullivan, no focus on Magna Carta or ‘older’ history.” Not to mention about 1300 years of Christianity! We had too hymns and that was that.

CluainArd

Sorry that should have read two hymns lol

br14

You’re falling into the trap Blair & Co set.

The idea that immigration is somehow a moral issue.

It’s not. It’s about economics. Supply and demand. Which is why Cameron & Co haven’t done a damn thing to stem the flow.

MadSummer

Not a subject I particularly care about…but the fact a bed-wetting, liberal nazi, Guardian reading refugee called malkovichmalmovich has been seriously wound up by this article has really made my day. Oh, and it’s not because we’re reactionary…more the fact we are far too intelligent to fall for your ignorant, self serving BS

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

Haha, this rag is clever in a pseudo-intellectual Daily Mail type way. What’s the matter with being wound up anyway … hippy.

edithgrove

It was a mediocre affair from beginning to end. I thought Boyle would have done better. Girl loses phone, boy finds phone, girl loses phone, boy finds phone, just shoot me now. And the poor athletes, drummed on at breakneck speed, just in the way of all that other crap. It should have ended Boyle’s career, but apparently he’s a national hero. Go figure.

Fergus Pickering

Go figure what, old thing. I loved the opening ceremony but switched off, along with most other people when the athletes trooped on. When you’ve seen one lot waving a flag you’ve seen them all.

Eddie

Oh but Fergus – didn’t you want to hear the wisdom of the commentators? We learnt which flag was rap DJ Trevor Nelson’s favourite and which jacket he liked best – and which ones his bruvva, who lives nearby, wears; and then we were granted the giggly wisdom of some Scottish bint nattering with him. Like most BBC know-nothing commentators, these twerps completely ignored the press packs which were full of information on the teams and countries, and instead rambled and waffled like Jubilee-pageant presenters. So why get these commentators: well, one is black and is from East London and the other is a Scottish woman – PC boxes ticked, Diversity Manageress contorted in orgasms of diversity pleasure.
Look at the BBC complaints page: apparently there have been so many complaints about these idiot presenters that a statement has been released.
The commentary ruined the ceremony – and, though it pains me to say it, I probably would have enjoyed listening to the informative American (or even the envious French) commentary more!
When will ‘Auntie Beeb’ learn? And more to the point: how can we give the old girl a damn good slap to make her see how embarrassing she is now?

Beam Me Up, Swanky

‘though it pains me to say it’…
Well it *would* pain you, wouldn’t it, as a diehard anti-American.

Just Bob

If boy had her phone, how was he able to phone phoneless girl to say he had her phone? Or maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention to the trite, hackneyed, multicult cliches and missed it.

Frank Sutton

Well surely the leader of Liberty is bound to support a movement which takes liberties seriously… well, takes liberties, anyway.

alexsandr

I would not mind taking liberties with Shami. In private!!!

James R

alexsandr ; Just don’t mention the missionary position.

Daniel Maris

Yes, that was the low in the opening ceremony – along with use of war-making military personnel at what is intended as a celebration of youth and peace.
I think NCCL was founded as a result of a Communist Party directive. Perhaps they should have been honoured.
The cauldron, in its glorious abstraction, salvaged everything. But the musical section was dire as well.

rod liddle

Old Slaughter – Nope, mate.
Malkovitch – what’s golf got to do with it? And if you find it depressing why read it? And if you’re going to use big words, learn how to spell them.

AGS

Speaking of spinelessness, (and no, not yours Mr. Liddle, in waiting to see which way the wind blew before posting) I thought Danny (pass me the lance) Boyle’s failure to offer dramatic depiction of the NHS’s mass abortion service a serious loss of artistic and moral nerve. Surely he could have created something memorable with, say, a hundred thousand perfectly formed, if varyingly sized and racially typed human foetuses? A grisly knoll, perhaps? Something suitable atop which to plant a faux emblem of a faux religion by a faux priesthood vested in white pantsuits.

Noa

Yes AGS.

It’s often forgotten that the NHS is now on a par with the Nazi’s in terms of the number of incinerated feotuses.
So why wasn’t a white suited Lord Owen carrying the flag, or at least, wrapping up a bloody bundle into it?

Just Bob

Rod, talking of Saint Shami and Liberty, maybe it’s time ti remind the readers of your Sunday Times column of Harriet Harman’s and Patricia Hewiit’s involvement in the National Council for Civil Liberties back in the 70′s and that org’s campaign for paedo sex.

Marcus

Dizzy
Rascal singing for the queen was great!

Here are the lyrics
to young Dizzee’s anti-police song about mugging innocent people.
Nice chap, definitely one of the best Britains since the industrial
revolution. Very clever and alternative to promote him and get him to
sing for the HRH, not at all like seeing your headmaster wear jeans.

What the hell is that white bloke doing holding the sacred and ancient O*****c flag? How very dare he.

nicodemus37

I think he’s supposed to be representing “old people” as opposed to white Europeans.

Eliezer Pennywhistler

You REALLY should find out who he is and what wonderful things he has done.

Eddie

No dear, that’s the Wonderful Wizard of Oz you’re thinking of there…
But we should be grateful that we had a token white man there – because of course the lovely fluffy people around the world who campaign for peace and love and justice are all brown and black and female, as can be seen from those citadels of civilisation and democracy in Africa and Asia, unlike the nasty white man’s lands where darkness, corruption and violence reigns (IRONY ALERT!!!).
Errrr….

Oh Ru you are special! Sarcasm is a harsh form of irony. So yes, IRONY ALERT is 100% correct. DERRRRRRR!
Get back to remedial class where you belong dear – maybe you can have a nice little game of keepy-uppy with Rio instead of worrying about big words (or any words, come to that…)

http://www.facebook.com/marian.thomson1 Marian Thomson

In case you have not worked it out……..that white bloke is Daniel Barenboim…..East-West Divan Symphony Orchestra

Eddie

Yes – he was very good as Harry Potter, wasn’t he?

Shakassoc

West-Eastern

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

I wonder why they chose to call it “Divan” rather than sofa, couch or settee.

Eddie

He wore a burka to fool of PC gestapo so they let him through – imagine the horror when they realise their mistake and he whipped it off to reveal, not an ethnic complexion, but a face as white as the underside of any German porn star’s tit!
Mein Gott!
Heads will roll…

Ru

I suppose it’s better than having a brain like a tit.

Eddie

Now if he’d had a brain like a tit then he’d be special needs and would have already had a go at carrying the Olympic torch in good ole nazi fashion…
And if he had a face like a tit he’d be looking forward to his own series on channel 4 and a new job presenting children’s TV on the BBC, non?

Ru

I thought you said that it was necessary to wear a burquh if you had a face like the underside of a German porn star’s tit and wanted to get on TV? Nein?

Mark

Daniel Barenboim is an elite Jewish musician of Argentinian origin, a passionate supporter of Palestinian rights, who holds joint Argentina, Israel, Palestinian and Spanish nationality. He jointly founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings together young
classical musicians from Israel, the Palestinian territories and Arab
countries to promote mutual reflection and understanding.

Hardly an anodyne white bloke, and a highly suitable candidate IMHO to be invited to carry the Olympic flag. In fact an inspired choice.

Do you watch the Proms?

Hexhamgeezer

Is he a West Bank Palestinian national or a Gazan? I believe they occasionally like killing each other. I wonder what side he favours.
Brownie points are due though for getting a few youngsters to play violins together. Every little helps.
I certainly didn’t know who he was and thought perhaps he was a Michael Jackson look-alike.

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

We have no orchestras, musicians or conductors of our own so he has imported some foreign ones to make up the shortfall. Somebody is supposed to be grateful but I’m not sure if its the Gazans or us.

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

I find Rod Liddle depressing but I don’t need a reactionary column in a paper for bigots to prove it. Can’t you people just retire to a remote island golf course and spare us decent people from your socio-path rants.

OldSlaughter

Cheaper option, don’t read them.

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

Don’t read it? Why should I let the pompous fart get away with his poisonous drivel.

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

Because he’s a nice person who’s always tolerant towards unemployable young people with mental health issues.

OldSlaughter

You think your wit free comment means he hasn’t ‘got away with it’?

Your opinion of yourself is grossly inflated.

As for ‘pompous fart’… put the stone down, the house you are in is most definitely glass.

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

My opinion of myself is very similar to Rod “paid to be spiteful” Liddle and many of the elitist bigots who read this pseudo-intellectual Daily Mail rag. The difference is I believe in collectivity, society and progress and find anyone who doesn’t infuriatingly pointless, especially if they are constantly muttering from the sidelines contributing nothing but begrudged taxes. Retreat to the mountains and hold your peace.

Daniel Maris

This isn’t North Korea – you are still allowed to express disagreement with aspects of organised events (events you are paying for through your taxes). I saw no justificaiton whatsoever for Shami Chakrabati’s participation. I might add, I quite like her as an individual.

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

You win the Spectator bingo for bringing up North Korea. First to mention “socialists” gets a copy of Aidan Burley’s auto-biography.

Nicholas K

The North Korea angle is exactly why Shami’s participation is so (to use the vernacular of the PE elite) “inappropriate”. As has been reported in The Spectator and elswhere, the demands of the “Olympic Family” for obeisance make the Corleone Family or the rulers of North Korea look quite normal. Shami should have been at the forefront of protest over the restrictions of Londoners’ freedoms during this corporate bloat-fest, what is she doing instead by her pointless participation in the opening ceremony?

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

She annoys you which makes her presence welcome in the eyes of the majority of people in society who aren’t bitter and twisted proto-Ayn Rands.

Don’t worry, Fergus, the New Statesman is in fact crammed full of bigotry: against anyone who does not accept that Islam is just ticketyboo (who are all accused of Islamophobia); against all those who think anti-racism and diversity and mass immigration and pandering to immigrants and ethnics has gone way to far (they are all racists and should be sacked, tortued and beheaded – and probably forced to watch women’s football at the Olympics too); against all those who think that a nation of broken marriage and single mother families with unhappy messed up ill kids is not a good thing; against anyone who wants to defend Jews and Israel against terrorist arabs and Muslims who want to destroy them all…and on and on…
There are good and interesting articles in both the Speccie and the New Statesman – and funny cartoons in both – but the latter wins the smug award for utter smugness and assuming it occupies the moral high ground: it is sometimes almost unbearably smug (as smug as that snotty little union-hugging scrote Owen Leftwing-Northernerwhos’s always writing drivel in it). It is also unbearably politically correct and like all PC police, chooses to bully anyone who does not agree with its agenda and accuses them of being racist and ‘right wing- and Daily Mail readers (though funnily enough that would include the entire left-wing population of France and much of Europe who hate multiculturalism as much as I do and much prefer integrationism which works far better than out multi-culti mess).
I actually believe in treating people equally irrespective of anything; lefties and PC multiculti worshippers of the diversity cult believe in treating people unequally, turninga blind eye to wrong-doing by anyone with a dark skin and a religion. They are wallowing in a hypocritical moral sewer; I stand free and naked on the hillside of hope….(Barak Obama moment there…)

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

I stumbled on this article. I felt the need to comment because you bigots need to be taken down a peg or two. Your time is limited, the 20th century has come and gone.

Eddie

I think you’ll find that many who read the Speccie and post here are in fact liberal-minded people – libertarians, haters of PC crap, inane cant, blatant hypocrisy, political corruption, idiot politicians, fabricated history, political propaganda, misplaced multiculturalism (as opposed for French-style anti-multiculturalist integrationism which all in France support and so do I) and much else besides.
Many of us are Labour or Liberal voters too (like Rod).
Bigot? That’d be you then you pompous self-righteous twerp – you assume all people who do not think exactly like you are somehow not decent, which you are, of course. Hitler made the same argument.

James R

Well put Eddie.You’re on fire today.A bit like the cauldron but with more sincerity and none of its hipocracy.

Nick

Top of the class today, Eddie.

Sarah

“I think you’ll find that many who read the Speccie and post here are in
fact liberal-minded people – libertarians, haters of PC crap, inane
cant, blatant hypocrisy, political corruption, idiot politicians,
fabricated history, political propaganda, misplaced multiculturalism (as
opposed for French-style anti-multiculturalist integrationism which all
in France support and so do I) and much else besides.”

But not you, Edd – “The successful black and Asian people I know HATE the losers who scream
‘coconut’ at anyone like them who gets an education, works hard, obeys
the law and succeeds”.- ie.

—–
“Many of us are Labour or Liberal voters too (like Rod).”

How on earth do you know?

——-
“Bigot?
That’d be you then you pompous self-righteous twerp – you assume all
people who do not think exactly like you are somehow not decent, which
you are, of course.

And you, Edd – “I do not read The Dail Mail. This is a newspaper mostly read by women
who are, though lefty feminasties like Herr Harman won’t admit it, far
more likely to be conservative – small and big C – than men (and more
puritanical and judgemental of others, inlcuding women).?” – ie.

——
“Hitler made the same argument.”
So did you, Edd – “Women know that a drunken promiscuous women complaining of rape against a
man – who could have been their father/husband/son and who could be
locked up for years and have his life ruined – is a woman whose opinions
cannot be taken seriously as evidence of anything but her own
self-inflicted degradation.” – ie.

Eddie

Yes, dear… Haven’t you got a slut-walk to go to or something instead of stalking a poor innocent man like me? Are you a rapist or something? Should I buy new locks for my patriarchal doors?
Surely you need to focus your misandrist anger elsewhere: I can assure you honey that I do not rule the world and oppress bints at all! Perhaps chain yourself to a postbox to protest at that terrible phallic symbol of the patriarchy and sexist opppression?
And where is your evidence, love, that Speccie readers do NOT vote Labour or Liberal (To assume is to be an ass, Sarah, and you assume all Speccie readers are bigoted tories and you are superior to them….Delusions delusions…) My evidence: Rod Liddle is a Labour party member. And your evidence for the contrary is…?
No idea what you’re whingeing about, sweetheart – the Olympic ceremony was full of feminists – all those silly suffragettes, but no mention at all of the fact that if women had never had the vote, the Tory party would have been in power 15 less than it was in the 20th century. No mention of those great movements who took power from the church (the lollards and beyond); instead the focus on the identity politics of race and gender. Ho hum…
But it could have been A LOT worse, so a sigh of relief all round. However, I note that the BBC (as per usual) is obsessed with promoting women’s sport (like girl football which no-one watches and no-one goes to see unless their ticket is free!), and having mostly female presenters for the Olympics – thank crikey I’m not watching any then (I just flick through the channels when looking for Bargain Hunt and see the girly autocuties asking athletes who lost ‘how are you feeling right now’ hoping that they’ll blub: the drama that the BBC director wants, that).
But just who is watching the Olypics? I’d love to see the ratings stats.

Sarah

Why do you keep calling me dear and love? Do you love me, Eddie?

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

Well done you managed to fit in Hitler, PC, multiculturalism in your rant. It’s bigot bingo time! Labour/Lib/Tory or whatever, if you pay money to buy/defend this vile divisive rag then you are part of the problem. It’s just the Daily Mail with vague air of intellectualism. I hope I am free to be as pompous/self-righteous as I like and cause you maximum offence.

Baron

malkovich, how about you go lie down in the middle of the motorway, preferably before nine in the morning, that should cure it.

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

Traffic is awful these days, isn’t it

Squire Western

I think you mean “sociopathic”. Back to school……..

http://twitter.com/malkomalkovich malkovichmalkovich

Back to school? But that would mean education which of course is leftist tyranny. The problem with you proto-Ayn Rand bigots is you don’t believe in society yet you are constantly meddling in it.

http://twitter.com/MaggieLavan MaggieLavan

So instead of banning all criticism malkovitchmalkovitch would like to banish into exile anyone who doesn’t treat his sacred cows with the seriousness and respect he believes they deserve. I wonder if, like Billy Bragg, he’s considered burning to death in the Olympic flame people who’s views he doesn’t agree with .